Master Shazbot's review of Extreme Measures

Hi m8's, I've been toying with WildWeasel's latest mod and here's what I think.

Stability:
I tested this mod using Zdoom 2.63a, a P4 2.4 GHz comp, and Windows 2000 / sp 4. I would have rather used ZdoomGL 75a, but as some of you might know it cannot render every single texture in doom... and it's actually slower than Zdoom (Grrr...). Anyway, this mod was stable, and didn't cause crashes or slow-downs.

Compatibility:
I used this mod with the Community Chest 2 megawad, and it worked 97% of the time. I had to load it with -zdoom.exe -file cchest2.wad -file ww-xm.wad- to get it to function correctly, as putting the ww-xm mod first made all of the weapons screwy (I.E. they weren't causing the right amounts of damage.) That's no biggie though; I won't deduct points for that. The swarm launcher however, did absolutely nothing, and my inventory conveniently cleaned itself out at the start of the next level.

Features:
Ho ho, now for the fun part. This mod as *amazingly* entertaining! You not only have to deal with bucket-fulls of new bad guys, the sounds have been revamped and replaced with acceptable ones. Not too annoying, not too boring. Has anyone noticed the death sounds for the enemies is random for some? :) NICE! :) The inventory system (From what I've found) comes with med kits and Doom-3 style grenades that have to be collected. The med kits only heal 25 points, but being able to heal in the field is VERY convenient.

Now, I have to start my complaining. This mod's kill-factor is its extra -fluff- weaponry. When I say this, I mean you will only use about 1/2 of the weapons most of the time.
The first weapon is the (ahem) *spade* from Day of defeat. Who-hoo! A shovel! Meh, it's not much, but at least it causes monster’s pain animation every time it's used. I actually found myself frequently whacking pinkie's on the head with it whilst low on shotgun shells.
#2-1 is the quake1 shotgun remake. Fires 2 bullet rounds, has good accuracy, but doesn't do a lot of damage. Course' it's only a starter, so I don't have a problem with that.
#2-2 is a -fluff- weapon. It's a MP5 ish weapon that uses bullets and fires fast, but you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it. I wasted more bullets that I really needed with this little sucker, so ignore it unless you plan on hording bullet cashes.
#3-1 is my favorite non-uber weapon in this mod. It's an Aliens type shotgun that sends out a butt-load of shrapnel for the price of 1 shell. It fires a little faster than the SSG and is amazingly less accurate, but once some poor soul is close to you, BANG! Their definitely gone.
#3-2 acts like a -fluff- weapon... I guess it depends on the situation. This gun is a Jackhammer - an auto shotgun that doesn't have to be pumped to fire. It only takes 1 shell, but its stats are a mirror of the normal shotty: Same single-line spread and # of projectiles. The first shotgun does a TON more damage than this little guy, hence why I use it more often. But then again, the Jackhammer is more accurate (shrugs).
#4-1 is another Day of Defeat gun - the BAR (Browning-automatic-rifle) is an assault rifle that uses its own ammo type (Doesn't share with the others) and has decent damage and accuracy. It's a slow-firing MG though, but that's how the real one fired anyway, so it's not a problem. This one makes a GREAT backup-weapon because it uses its own ammo type. It doesn't cause enough damage against the big enemies, but it can get you out of a sticky situation if you use it right. The enemy who uses the BAR is hilarious though - he not only has a turbo-triple burst firing BAR, but he also fires a RPG (!) at the same time! Maybe it's a bug in Zdoom 2.63a, but I would really like to find this burst BAR w/ RPG attachment ;)
#4-2 is the perfect crowd control gun - the MP-3 from W-W-II. (Actually I know where the model is from: Rise of the Triad sound familiar, WW?)
It has an insane ROF with a decent spread and fires bullet ammo. This little gun is great on little enemies like Zombie's and Imp's and its one hell of an anti-aircraft gun if you get what I mean (lol), but it's a waste of bullets on the bigger guys.
#5-1 is the Napalm launcher - This gun's from monolith's Blood (God I miss that game... anyone thought about modding it to Doom 3 / II?) It's got its own ammo which oddly comes from fallen Imps, but I won't complain =P. It's a useful little thing for... whatever you use a rocket launcher for. It's hilarious on human enemies though, as it lights them on fire instead of gibing them or killing them (How did you get the random death animations WW? That's AWESOME!). The Cyb's also use napalm rockets instead of norm missiles.
#5-2 is a UBER FLUFF gun. It's a freeze-ray powered by energy cells. Best part? It costs 5 cells to fire it... Ugh, I hate freeze rays. They don't cause enough damage so you end up wasting ammo.
#6-1 is a dual-set of plasma pistols. Pretty neat, not a bad way to use your cells. Fires 2 plasma - balls that swerve side-to-side like their intoxicated, but it's another great crowd control weapon.
#6-2 is a gun-version of the Hexen mage's Lightening attack. Sucks up a CRAPLOAD of cells to fire and aiming it is tricky. I'm labeling this one as a FLUFF gun because it uses too much cells, and it has a nasty habit of going after the wrong targets, or the walls.
#7-1 is the BFG. It's a partial-remake of the Doom 3 BFG in how it charges and says "Overload" before it fires. Gatta love the BFG and crowds... just makes you sorry you forgot an umbrella to take cover from the flying pieces.
#7-2 is a really cool weapon. It fires 3 smart missiles that either go through a bad guy, or detonate in his face. Or the wall behind / in front of him. This gun takes accuracy to use, but it's a good substitute for a BFG because the missiles go through a few bad guys before exploding. I think it uses its own ammo type, but I'm not sure. Correct me if I'm wrong WW...

An' that’s the end of my little review. I like this mod. It's entertaining, it's an in-your-face instagib SPLATTER mod (I have a sweet tooth for insta-gib weapon mods, btw), it's a spray-and-pray mod, and it's a replace or mod almost every single bad guy mod.
The only thing that I disliked was the lack of use in the fluff weapons. Yeah, they look cool, but their major game play killers.

Anyway, excellent work WildWeasel. Extreme Measures rocks!
(BTW, I checked this with Office 2003 spell check so you people can read it.)

NOOOO!!! I was to be the first one to review it! Ah well, WW, add this to your site.

Thank you for your review, I'll post it on the Armory page along with my upcoming review of Nightmare Squad.

Really, though, I disagree about some of the "fluff" weapons - the lightning gun works pretty well against single large monsters (especially cyberdemons), and the Ice Beam has the added advantage of turning your enemies into mobile cover (just push the statues around).

You got so many of these guns wrong, do you not read textfiles or something?

The pistol is a MAG-SEC.

The MP5ish thing is Scuba Steve's DoomGun(aka The gun that zombies use(TM)). I love that gun, if used right its PERFECT against groups of zombies(burst fire).

its mp-40, not mp-3.

Sorry, I just HAD to point that stuff out. Sorry for now overly picky I can be. :P

Sorry to bump this thread, guys...but I need a different review. This one was nice and honest, but it lacked a final score. As such, I can't put it on the site (it doesn't follow my review criteria).

And the MAG-SEC's graphics are from Chasm.

And the freeze ray being a UBER FLUFF gun? What a load of bollocks!!

(It had to be said.)

Alrighty then, here's my review. Bear with me--I've never really reviewed something before.

++Wildweasel's Extreme Measures is first and foremost, a weapons mod, so we'll start with the weapons. The weapons being replaced are in parenthesis:

(Fist) This is now a shovel, which now performs two fist attacks per hit and is somewhat faster. Obviously, this thing is murder with a berserk patch. Very satisfying to use, and has a great hit sound.

(Chainsaw) No weapon here, the chainsaw has been replaced by the new barrels. More on that in a bit...

(Pistol) Now a Mag-Sec that shoots two bullets at a time and has pixel-perfect accuracy. This will do nicely until you find something better, but you'll probably want to use this for sniping.

(Assault Gun) The Assault gun uses Scuba Steve's "Doom Guy Gun" graphics. Fire in three-round bursts, or go full auto at the expense of all your accuracy. At first glance, this gun appears to be useless, but it kinda grows on you. This gun does well versus the standard former humans and imps, but you're better off using a different weapon against anything else. Occasionally dropped by Zombiemen.

(Shotgun) The SPAS-12, using modified graphics from some Atari Jaguar "Aliens vs Predator" game that I've never heard of until now. It fires one shell that does as much damage as a regular SSG blast, and it's only slightly slower than the regular Doom shotgun. This will serve you well throughout the game, but the slower firing rate may take some getting used to. Extremely loud, as a shotgun of this caliber should be. Occasionally dropped by Sergeants.

(Supershotgun) The Pancor Jackhammer, now sporting a new silver look instead of the previous black model. It fires with the accuracy of Doom's regular shotgun, but with only five pellets intead of seven. This is a nice alternative to the SPAS-12, especially when you're being overrun. I mainly use it when I need the Doom shotgun's accuracy to shoot out window snipers.

(Chaingun) The MP-40, with recolored ROTT MP-40 graphics. My absolute favorite gun in this mod, this is basically a really fast chaingun, and is well-suited to situations that require one. This gun's only real downside is also its best quality (no, not the lovely black finish!); the blazin' rate of fire. You'll need to try not to continue shooting enemies after they die, which ain't as easy as it sounds. Overall, an excellent weapon for just about anything, as long as you have the bullets. Rarely dropped by Vac-Bob.

(Dragon Claw) The Browning Automatic Rifle. Due to its origins as Heretic's Dragon Claw, this gun does NOT use standard Doom bullets! You need to kill Zombiemen and Vac-Bob, and break open barrels for ammo. The BAR is quite potent, ripping through former humans, imps, and even demons with ease, however, the accuracy isn't too great, and there's a bit of pre-fire delay. Commonly dropped by Vac-Bob and barrels.

(Rocket Launcher) This is now the Napalm Cannon, with (correct me if I'm wrong here) about half the damage and double the splash radius. That's ok, though, since ammo pickups are doubled too. Our fiery friend here can fire (sorry sorry sorry!) quite fast, and causes all former human enemies to burst into flames! Basically, you'll use this gun whenever you would use the rocket launcher. Ammo occasionally dropped by imps.

(Plasma Rifle) The Ice Beam, using a nice graphic that I've seen on Doomworld's forums before (don't remember your name, but you know who you are). Uses five cells per shot, and has slight splash damage. Obviously, this weapon freezes your enemies, who can then be shoved around, used as shields, and shattered (the shovel does nicely here). Despite the rather steep ammo cost, this is a good solid weapon. (Does the projectile look like it came from Super Metroid, or is that just me?)

(Serpent Staff) Dual Plasma Pistols, using the pistol graphics from Scuba Steve's ACTION! Doom. This doesn't use cells, but blue mana, since it's from Hexen. You get these from the Plasma Pistol Marines, who are all too willing to weld your ass to the ground with them. Due to the nature of the Serpent Staff, this weapon will leech health from targets at close range, but that can't really be helped. Commonly dropped by the Plasma Pistol Marine.

(Arc of Death) Now we're cookin'! The Ion Thruster, after you pry it from the Tesla Zombie's cold dead hands, uses five green mana to fire a huge lightning bolt that sticks to enemies and fries them till they die, the bolt grazes a wall, or it times out, whichever comes first. This is very useful against large monsters, since it's harder for them to shake the bolt off. Commonly dropped by the Tesla Zombie.

(BFG 9000) The Interpolated Wave Burst Generator. This little piece of heaven still uses 40 cells per shot, but is much, much more dangerous, and has a pre-fire delay longer than its name. If you're anywhere near the big green ball when it explodes, you're toast. Use with care.

(Bloodscourge) The Swarmer. Much less dangerous than the IWBG, much harder to find. To obtain the two parts that form this choice piece of hardware, you need to kill Afrits, and they're really stingy with the pieces. This weapon uses blue AND green mana, so Doom's ammo counter won't tell you how many more times you can fire this baby. After a blinding yellow flash, three guided missiles will head to the nearest enemy and go straight through it (or explode on it, if it's a boss), then circle back around and attempt to do it again and again till it explodes on something. Each missile has a huge explosion radius, but don't fret, you're immune to them. This weapon can set former humans on fire. If you need more ammo, pick up Ion Thrusters, Plasma Pistols, and Swarmer Clusters.

++Now, for the poor bastards on the receiving end of the aforementioned weapons:

(Barrel) Not really an enemy, but since you can destroy it, and it can hurt you, I lumped it with the bad guys. These are now the Supply Barrels from ROTT. Don't worry, they still explode very nicely, but now they can drop goodies! The pickups that a barrel drops may include
Incendiary Grenades, BAR clips, Mag-Sec clips, First-Aid Rolls, Swarmer Clusters, Strife bullet clips (see end of review), and the Browning Automatic Rifle. Barrel explosions can set former humans on fire.

(Zombieman) He's still the same guy, but now with a much cooler voice, from Halo. He sometimes drops BAR clips, Mag-Sec clips, and the Assault Gun.

(Sergeant) Again, still the same Sergeant we all know and hate, but now with the aforementioned Halo voice. Sometimes drops shells, shell boxes, and the SPAS-12.

(Heavy Weapon Dude) Now some guy called "Vac-Bob", using the player sprite from Strife. He wields a machine gun (either one of the two) with an RPG attachment that he just loves to use. When you hear him shout "Get down!" or "Clear", take cover! Rarely, at close range, he may decide to just open fire with his machine gun. Sometimes drops both varieties of clips, the BAR, and rarely, the MP-40.

(Imp) Still the imp, but now his pre-fireball windup is faster. If you don't splatter him, he burns up in a harmless conflagration. Fireball graphics and sounds are now much cooler and can set former humans on fire. May sometimes drop lesser Napalm pickups.

(Demon, Specter) These guys have not been changed in any way.

(Hell Knight) Now the Tesla Zombie, using graphics from the Monster Resource Wad and the same voice all helmet-less former humans now have. He fires a volley of painful blue plasma balls when he attacks. Same HP as a Hell Knight, but the same mass as the Sergeant and Zombieman, making him easy to shove off of cliffs. Drops the Ion Thruster.

(Cacodemon) The Cacolich from the Monster Resource Wad (the one with the faster breath attack). In addition to the regular fireball attack, he now has a very deadly "flamethrower-esque" gas breath attack that he uses at short range. If that weren't enough, he explodes when he dies! Stay back, unless you're tired of living.

(Lost Soul) Perimeter Scanning Droid, or simply PerScan. Will initiate self-destruct sequence once it touches the player, and then explode, or it'll explode when you destroy it. Really nice sound effects. Uses the Sentinel graphics from Strife.

(Pain Elemental) The Tortured Soul from the Monster Resource Wad. He usually breathes a slow gas cloud with the "rip" bit set, meaning that it goes through targets. If you're far away, or if he just feels like it, he'll shoot a really fast fireball. When he dies, he releases a ton of gas clouds.

(Baron of Hell) The Afrit from the Monster Resource Wad, except he no longer flies, can't do that "Inferno" attack, (that never did any damage anyway...) and has less HP than a Baron. His fireballs are still really painful and will set former humans on fire. Watch out for the "magma ball" that he throws! Sometimes drops a piece of the Swarmer.

(Mancubus) Now a brown-suited marine with the "Berserk Marine" sprite and Vac-Bob's voice. He wields deadly incendiary grenades, but fortunately for us, they're easy to dodge--the problem is, he throws so many of them! For some reason, he's not invulnerable to his own weapons like the Tesla Zombie or Plasma Pistol Marine is, and won't think twice about bombing his buddies over a badly-aimed grenade. Sometimes drops an Incendiary Grenade.

(Arachnotron) Now the Plasma Pistol Marine, with the "akimbo pistol marine" sprites, colored olive-green, from Immoral Conduct, and Vac-Bob's voice. Fires plasma balls similar to the Tesla Zombie, but twice as many of them. Drops the Plasma Pistols.

(Revenant) The Flamer Zombie, using slightly modified Templar graphics from Strife. Basically, this is a zombieman in a small mech-suit, equipped with a deceptively long-reaching flamethrower. He makes no sounds except for his stomping feet, his weapon, and his death scream. If you stay out of his reach, you'll be fine--easier said than done, however.

(Arch-Vile) Assault Mecha V7. It looks like the Crusader from Strife, but it's much, much scarier. It fires a devastating dual plasma beam, half of which is more than enough to kill you. Like the Flamer Zombie, it makes no sounds except for its stomping, its weapon, and the ensuing explosion after you kill it. Don't expect to hear that last one very often. This nightmare on two legs will leave you begging for the gentle warmth of the Arch-Vile's hellfire.

(Cyberdemon) Nothing has changed about the Cyberdemon, except that he now wields a Napalm Cannon instead of the standard rocket launcher.

(Spider Mastermind) Now the Cyber Mastermind from the Monster Resource Wad. Take the top half of a Cyberdemon and place it on the lower half of a Spider Mastermind, and you have this freak of nature. General Fettgesicht, eat your heart out.

++Lastly, we have the items:

(Flechette) An Incendiary Grenade, using graphics from "Doom 3 in Doom 2", that does lots of damage. Sets former humans on fire. Dropped by barrels and the Grenadier Marine.

(Quartz Flask) First-Aid Roll, with the med-patch graphics from Strife. Heals 25% health when used. Dropped by barrels.

(Krater of Might) Swarmer Cluster. Use this to refill the Swarmer. Due to its origins as the Krater, this also gives the Plasma Pistols and Ion Thruster ammo. Dropped by barrels.

The Medikit, Stimpack, and Health Bonus sprites have been changed to various liquid containers, but are otherwise still the same.

##All in all, I give this mod a 9.3 out of 10. I highly recommend this mod to, well, anyone!

*This mod was designed for use with Zdoom 63a. With .93 and above, the Assault Gun uses Strife Bullets, a separate ammo type. This is why you find Strife clips in the barrels.*

Thank you very much, Spray, your review will be posted shortly.

EDIT: It's up now.

I thought their voices were from MOHAA and not Halo, hmm.

Nope, most certainly from Halo. As good as MOHAA's voice section was, the sayings weren't varied enough (I'd always hear "Fire!" and "Watch out!" more than anything else).